Voters Take to Social Media to Influence Election

Getting out the vote has traditionally been a ground game, a combination of telephone calls and transportation to the polls. But this year, social media has come into greater play, especially among younger voters addicted to Facebook and Twitter, a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey found.

Nearly a third of registered voters (30 percent) have been encouraged on social nets by their friends or family members to vote one way or another. Among registered voters, 22 percent let others know for whom they planned to vote on social nets like Facebook and Twitter; 20 percent have encouraged others to vote for their candidate.

Whether or not the social media game will make a difference or whether it adds up to just a lot of noise is anybody's guess, but there will surely be plenty of stats for analysts to chew over in the days to come.

The telephone and cell-based survey of more than 1,000 adults was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between Nov. 1 and Nov. 4.

Getting out the vote has traditionally been a ground game, a combination of telephone calls and transportation to the polls. But this year, social media has come into greater play, especially among younger voters addicted to Facebook and Twitter, a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey found.

Nearly a third of registered voters (30 percent) have been encouraged on social nets by their friends or family members to vote one way or another. Among registered voters, 22 percent let others know for whom they planned to vote on social nets like Facebook and Twitter; 20 percent have encouraged others to vote for their candidate.

Whether or not the social media game will make a difference or whether it adds up to just a lot of noise is anybody's guess, but there will surely be plenty of stats for analysts to chew over in the days to come.

The telephone and cell-based survey of more than 1,000 adults was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between Nov. 1 and Nov. 4.